China’s Agricultural Import Potential

Minghao Li, Wendong Zhang, Dermot J. Hayes
June 2018 [18-PB 23]

As part of the current trade negotiations between the United States and China, China has suggested that it may lower trade barriers and increase agricultural imports from the United States. In this policy brief, we provide an overview of China’s tariff and non-tariff trade barriers and estimate China’s import potential if these barriers are removed. We find that China’s importation of major U.S. commodities has the potential to increase significantly. For example, in our medium-growth scenario, China will potentially increase U.S. pork import value by $8.9 billion if all trade barriers are removed.